By Antonio M. Ajero
THE CITY of Davao has state-of-the-art equipment and competent personnel to enforce law and order, but it is faced with two problems that prevent lawmen from doing their job of maintaining peace and order in the city of 1.5 inhabitants effectively.
This was the lament of Vice Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte in brief remarks made during a business forum hosted by the Davao City Chinatown Development Council at the Davao Chinese High School on the eve of the Chinese New Year last Tuesday. The forum featured presentations by PLDT’s SME Nation, Asia United Bank and the Consulate General of Malaysia.
SME Nation, a subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Co., Inc., presented the features of Watcher and F.A.S. Track, two video monitoring systems composed of sophisticated closed circuit television cameras that can be used to manage stores, offices and business establishments in the 47-hectare Chinatown, aside from improving the enclave’s security from criminal elements.
After asking the most number of questions, Vice Mayor Duterte advised the Chinatown Council and other members of the Chinese business community to seriously consider the installation of the monitoring systems.
Once saturated with IP (Internet protocol) cameras, Davao City’s Chinatown will be the “most wired Chinatown” in the country, a forum participant commented.
Traffic problem
Saying that the monitoring system is most ideal if installed all over the city, the vice mayor, however added that there is the problem of worsening traffic flow that slows down response of the police and even the famed Emergency 911.
Duterte said that no less than 58,000 motor vehicles enter daily the city’s road system.
Davao already has its 911 which can quickly monitor crime incidents, road mishaps and other incidents within its territory, but heavy traffic can delay arrival at the place of the incident and slows down responding units, Duterte said, adding that the city authorities are working on this problem now.
Juvenile justice law
The vice mayor once again rued the juvenile justice law, authored by Senator Francis Pangilinan, saying that the law has confounded law enforcement in the city, particularly in dealing with offending minors.
Feeling impunity because of the law, more minors are now involved in criminal activities than ever before, the mayor said,
adding that the law is so defective that it does not even provide for a facility where youthful offenders can be subjected to even a minute of lecture on the virtues of good citizenship and the evils of crime.
Instead of being held responsible for the crime that they commit, the minors are released to their dysfunctional families who are clueless about parental responsibility and citizen accountability, Duterte said, adding that the law worsens instead of reforming offenders.
“Pangilinan is a good man, but we should not vote for him because of this law,” Duterte said. The law was copied from the American system which is not applicable to the Philippine situation.
In recommending business and security solutions presented to members of the business community, the vice mayor advised representatives of the SME Nation to make a presentation to Mayor Sara Duterte for the possibility of using their monitoring system in the entire city.
Saying that the Sta. Ana Police Station is doing a good job in securing Chinatown, the vice mayor recommends the fielding of more mobile patrol units in the enclave.
A businessman said Chinatown can use as many as 600 Watcher and F.A.S. Track gadgets which can also track down the whereabouts of their trucks and delivery vans wherever they are in the world. Movements in their business establishments and households can be monitored by them through their laptops or Internet-able cellular phones, when installed with Watcher and F.A.S. Track gadgets.
Filipino-Chinese businessmen belonging to Chinatown attended a followup presentation at the PLDT SME Center last Friday where they asked questions about the solutions. PLDT Vismin business head Nilo M. Bantilan was present to make detailed answers to their queries.
